It Started with a Big Mac
by MysticStarblade
Summary: "I couldn't believe him. He just had to go cheat on me, and then he dared to insult me! I did everything for him, and yet he went and stabbed me in the back." Lucy was cheated on by her boyfriend of two years. Just when she thinks that she will never find love again, she walks through the two golden arches, and her life changes for the better.
1. Chapter 1

It Started with a Big Mac

Chapter 1

_I couldn't believe him! What kind of a jerk is he? _I huffed in anger and stalked through the crowd, ignoring all the curious eyes lingering on me. I was furious. After all this hard work of losing weight, wearing makeup, and acting like a total airhead, my _ex-_boyfriend cheated on me. Not only did I catch him in the act, but he even pointed out my "flaws" and gave excuses! Seriously?! I'm too "fat" to be with him? I'm too "fake" to be with him? I'm too "stupid" to be with him? What kind of excuses are those? Did he not notice that I lost weight just because he called me fat when we first started dating? I even acted like an airhead because he told me he felt too stupid to be next to me, and wore makeup to hide those "ugly bags" he "noticed" under my eyes! I did _everything_ for him, and yet he goes and backstabs me!

I guess this is what I get for being a petty teenager in love. I changed who I was so that he could be happy! I did everything I could so that he would love me, so that he would cherish me forever, but no. Of course he had to go cheat on me and insult me. Pathetic. That's what I am. Pathetic. I growled in anger and noticed some people walking by jump at my sudden... show of emotion? Whatever. Serves them right for walking too close to me.

As I continued to stomp past the numerous people in the busy city sidewalks, my stomach growled. Loudly. The crowd around me paused to stare at me weirdly. My face flushed in embarrassment. Great, they heard that too. But come on, it isn't _my _fault that my stomach growled. I starved myself on purpose! I starved myself for the sole purpose of having my "boyfriend" think I was hot. If anyone, _he's _to blame for my hunger. Pretending not to care, I continued on, thinking about that idiot ex of mine. That is, until I came across a McDonald's. I stared at the golden arches carefully, thinking about the wonderful big macs, French fries, and chicken nuggets they had. Oh... but what about my figure? I worked hard to... appease... him... You know what? Screw him! I'm hungry! With that thought in mind, I marched towards McDonald's and threw the door open.

It was actually pretty empty. Only a couple people here and there. Standing behind the cashier with his back turned towards me was a guy around my age washing the grill. _Seriously,_ I thought to myself_, people these days would dye their hair any color._ I snorted inwardly and went up to the cashier, eying the menu floating above us greedily. After I chose what to order, I leaned over the counter and tapped the guy's shoulder.

"Hey, uhh... I'm ready to order now."

The pinky jumped in surprise and turned towards me. "Oh! Sorry about that! What would you like to order?" He grinned cheekily at me, giving me a full view of his perfect, straight teeth. His onyx eyes also shined a bit when he smiled.

Shaking my head a bit, I answered, "I'll have a big mac, a serving of fries, 20 pieces of chicken nuggets and a soda please."

Pinky's eyes widened at my rather large order before smiling widely again. "Sure thing! That'll be $8.00. Did you forget to eat or something?" He asked.

I shrugged and handed him the money. "I guess you could say that. Let's just say I've decided to come off a diet."

"That's cool! For here or to go?"

I thought for a bit. There really wasn't any place where I needed to go. My father doesn't really care where I go, thank goodness for that, as long as I get back before my curfew. And, I could really use some company. "Here please!"

"Alrighty then, give me 5 minutes." Pinky promised before rushing around the kitchen.

I chuckled at his slightly childish behavior and found a seat that was relatively close to the cashier. This person didn't seem to be too bad. Sitting down, I pulled out my phone. I groaned. _He _just _had_ to text me.

_Lulu-chi! Come on baby, answer me. You know I don't like it when you -_

Huffing in anger, I deleted his message and began to erase everything about him on my phone: I blocked his number, deleted him from my contacts list, and deleted all the pictures we took together. I was _so_ done with him. That jerk brought me nothing but pain for the last two years. I leaned back in my seat and rubbed my eyes. The more I thought about him, the more I realized that the "love" that we had was nothing more than me obediently doing his every command. God, he had me whipped. But no more. Now, I'm making my own decisions. _*Growl*_ ... After I eat.

"Here you go! One big mac, one serving of fries, 20 pieces of chicken mcnuggets and a large soda." A voice interrupted my thoughts. I looked up and saw Pinky laying out my tray of (delicious) food.

"Thanks! You didn't have to bring my food here."

"Don't mention it. And besides, you looked a little busy there being pissed at something."

I laughed. That was true.

Pinky slid into the chair in front of me. "So, wanna tell me what got you so upset?"

"Oh," I said nervously, "but don't you have to work?"

He looked around the nearly-empty restaurant and raised an eyebrow at me.

I giggled. "Alright. Fine. You win. Basically, I've been dating this guy for a couple years. I did everything that he asked me to: lost weight, wore makeup, and stuff like that. Tonight, we were supposed to go out on a date. But when I got to his house, I caught him cheating on me. And not only that, but he _dared_ to insult me! He called me fat, stupid, and ugly! So yup! That's my story."

Pinky frowned angrily with a hint of a fire burning behind his eyes. "Oh, well you know what? That guy was a total douche. He doesn't deserve you! Look at yourself. _You're beautiful_. No one should ever tell you otherwise. Oh man, just thinking about what kind of guy he is makes me wanna go beat him up..." He continued to mutter darkly to himself.

My heart swelled at his previous words (about beauty). No guy had ever told me I was beautiful before.

We continued to chat for another hour and learned more about each other. He had a younger sister, and I was an only child. He was single, I was (now) single. We're both seniors in high school. I just moved to Magnolia from the next town over and will attend Fairy Tail High with him and his friends. He's working in McDonald's to save up for college. His pink hair is actually his natural hair color. And so much more.

A few people walked into the restaurant. "Oh, I gotta go take their orders down. I'll be right back." Pinky headed towards the register before abruptly stopping and turning towards me.

"Also," Pinky continued, "I get off in 15 minutes. Do you wanna hang out for a bit afterwards?" His dark eyes gleamed hopefully, and I just couldn't say no.

I glanced at my watch and realized that I still had a couple hours left before I needed to head home. Looking back up at Pinky, I smiled and nodded. "Sure! I'd love to."

He grinned happily. "Great! It's a date!" Pinky continued towards the register before talking over his shoulder, "Oh, and my name's Natsu by the way. Natsu Dragneel"

I smiled again. Born in summer. "I'm Lucy!"

And for the first time in years, I felt truly happy and loved.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey everyone! So because of the numerous reviews I got, I decided to continue this fanfic :)  
><strong>**Please read & review and I hope you all enjoy :D**

* * *

><p>It Started with a Big Mac<p>

Chapter 2

"-and so naturally, I would kick Gray's ass. But then Erza shows up and -" Natsu paled and shuddered as he re-called a memory of him and his friends. We were currently strolling around Cherry Blossom park, a cute area in the heart of Magnolia. Natsu and I were sharing some of our fondest or funniest memories.

I giggled as he said something about a red-haired demon and stupid ice princesses. Tonight had actually turned out to be one of the best nights I ever had. I sighed happily and breathed in the crisp, summer-night air.

"So what about you, Luce?" Natsu asked.

I raised my eyebrow. "'Luce'?"

Natsu turned a bit pink, although not quite the _salmon_ color his hair is, and rubbed his neck bashfully. "Well, I thought it would be a good nickname for you." His eyes widened in realization. "But if you don't like it, I could totally change it!"

I laughed for what seemed like the hundredth time tonight and patted his shoulder. "It's fine! I love it. No one had ever given me a nickname before."

The _salmon_-haired teen sighed in relief. "Good, then I'm the first" he whispered to himself.

I smiled again. "So what did you want to know?"

"Oh yeah! Why did you move to Magnolia? And what was your old town like?"

"Well, we moved to Magnolia because of my dad's business. And my old town Acalypha was pretty quiet. There wasn't much excitement and it was boring there. I guess I'm glad I moved to Magnolia. It seems so full of life here!"

"Yup!" Natsu grinned, "And we also got to meet, so that's a super plus!" He pumped his fist as a determined look appeared on his face.

I laughed again. This guy is too childish and funny. "So tell me about Fairy Tail High." I told him.

Natsu's determined face turned into one of happiness and love. "Fairy Tail is literally my second home. Everyone's family there. We all look after one another and take care of each other. Even the teachers and principle treat us like family. Trust me, you'll love it there."

I smiled. Fairy Tail seems like a lovely place. "Tell me about your friends."

Natsu's grin turned into a full-blown smile. "Well, you already know the ice princess/stripper Gray, he's the annoying one. There's Erza, the red-haired demon, who's strict but kind nonetheless. There's Gajeel, that iron idiot, and Juvia, Gray's creepy stalker, and -" he continued to list and describe all his friends with a smile on his face.

We sat down on a swing-set (with Natsu still describing all his friends) and I stared up into the night sky. The stars twinkled brightly. _I wonder if you're watching us, mom. Can you believe how many friends I might be able to make?_ I continued to reminisce about my mother, remembering all the times she braided my hair, played dolls with me, kissed my "boo-boos", and spoke to me of love.

"Hey Luce, are you okay?" Natsu asked concerned.

I snapped out of my daze. "Huh?" Something wet slid down my cheeks and I touched it. Tears. "Oh, I was thinking about my mom."

He smiled gently. "Why don't you tell me about her?"

I wiped away any remaining tears and took a few breaths. "She was ... an amazing woman and a great mother. She was loving, kind, gentle, and caring. She would take care of me, be there when I needed her most, and teach me everything I needed to know about the real world."

"She sounds wonderful" Natsu said.

"Heh, yeah... she was. You know, one time, she told me that she kissed Santa Claus."

"No way!" the teen said, his eyes widening in mock surprise.

I giggled. "Yup! I got so mad at her, I refused to talk to her for a whole day! All I kept thinking was 'I can't believe mom would do that! I can't believe she would cheat on dad!' But then I later realized that dad _was_ Santa Claus." We both laughed. "I look back to that now, and I realize how funny and teasing she was also."

The two of us remained silent for a while. After a moment, I continued, "And then when I was 10, she passed away. My mom had been fighting cancer for a while, but it ultimately killed her." I looked down at my lap as more tears fell.

"Well," Natsu started, "I'm really sorry for your loss. I would have loved to meet her." _And she would have loved to meet you._ "But hey, at least you have some fond memories of her. Even though she may not be here now, she's still in your heart and I'm sure she's watching you up there somewhere."

The stars twinkled brighter.

"Thanks Natsu" I said happily. He really knows what to say. He smiled and gave me time to wipe away my tears.

After a few more moments of silence, Natsu spoke up again. "My real parents died when I was really little." I stared wide-eyed at him. "It was when I was around four, so I don't remember a lot about them. Anyways, shortly afterwards, my current parents, Igneel and Grandine, adopted me and after that, my sister. It really is fine though. Even though I regret not knowing my birth parents, Igneel, Grandine, and Wendy are the best family I could ever hope for. I have amazing friends, an amazing life, and now I met you!"

I smiled. Natsu really did see the bright side of things. So much has happened to him, and yet here he was, brightening the whole world with his smile. But there was still one thing that was nagging me. "What's so special about me anyways? We just met, and you're here comforting me and being nice to me. I can't help but wonder why. Of all the things you could be doing now, you're here with a girl like me."

I heard the swings next to me creak and felt a sudden weight on my shoulders. Looking up, I nearly jumped in surprise when I saw Natsu's face close to mine and his hands on my shoulders.

With determination blazing in his eyes, he said, "Lucy, don't _ever_ think that way about yourself. You are an amazing girl. You're funny, kind, sweet, and overall a wonderful person to be around. Don't let that idiot ex-boyfriend of yours get into your head. You're one of the most beautiful girls I've ever met, as well as one of the smartest. I'm here comforting you now because you _are_ special. When I first laid eyes on you a couple hours ago, I got this feeling that I've never had before. I felt, and still feel like I've known you forever. I feel happy when I'm around you and I want you to be happy too."

Tears of joy and happiness sprung to my eyes as he said those words. No words or actions could express the amount of joy I was feeling. When the first tear escaped, Natsu jumped around nervously, an expression of worry breaking out over his features.

"Oh crap! I made you cry! I'm so so sorry Luce. I got too -"

"That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to me!" I wailed. Natsu stopped jumping, smiled, and pulled my head into his chest, giving me an awkward one-armed hug.

"Jeez, there's no reason to cry over _that_." he said.

"These are tears of joy, you idiot." I mumbled, hiding my blushing face in his warm embrace.

After I felt my face turn back to normal, I pulled away to check my watch.

"OMIGAWD!" I shouted as I jumped from the swings, "My dad's going to _kill_ me!"

Natsu stood up with me. "Why? What's wrong?"

"It's 9:05 pm!"

"And?"

"My curfew is at 9:00!"

"So?"

An angry tick mark appeared on my forehead. "... My dad's gonna flip because I didn't get back by 9! I need to go, now!"

"Oh," Natsu nodded in realization, "I'll walk you home then."

I grabbed my stuff and looked around frantically. "No man! I gotta run! There isn't time for walking!"

Natsu laughed and grabbed my free hand. "Well then what are you waiting for? Let's go!" And with that, he started sprinting towards one direction, pulling me along with him.

I smiled gently at his thoughtfulness before my eyes widened in realization. "Do you even know where I live?!"

After another ten minutes of turning around and telling the salmon-haired teen the directions, we finally made it to my penthouse.

Natsu gave a low whistle. "Whoa Luce. You live _here_?"

I smiled nervously and shifted around a bit. "Yeah, but it's pretty boring with just two people living in this giant flat."

He nodded a bit and gasped in excitement. "Hey! So this new amusement park just opened up. I'm free from work this Saturday, so I was wondering if you might want to go with me?"

I smirked a little and nudged his shoulder. "Is this a date, Natsu Dragneel?"

Said boy flushed a little before saying, "Pphhh, whaaaaatttt? Can't a guy-friend ask a fellow friend, who just so happens to be a girl, to go to a park? And anyways, I thought that it might take your mind off of your ex."

I laughed at his previous remark and nodded, my heart melting at the site of his eyes sparkling in joy. "Sure! I'd love to go!" It would also be a good idea to stop thinking about... _him_. I'm determined to forget him completely so that I could move on with my life.

Natsu grinned widely. "Great! I'll pick you up at 10:00 am!" He said before running away, well... after we exchanged numbers.

Smiling again, I turned around and made my way to the top of the building, where I live with my dad. No sooner had I stepped through those doors was I met with my father's piercing eyes.

"Hello Lucy," he said, "how was your date with ... _him_?" My father never did like _him_, and since a few hours ago, I finally understand why.

I groaned in disgust. "I caught him cheating on me. He even insulted me! That ... that ... -"

"That bastard!" Father yelled, his face flushing a deep crimson color, "Oh just wait until I get my hands around his grubby, little neck ..."

"Dad, it's fine. Really! I'm never going to see him again."

Dad nodded, a little hint of a smile tugging his lips. "Well then, why _were_ you out so late?"

"Sorry dad, I was out with a friend."

His gaze softened. "Well, I would like to meet this friend one day." He said before turning around and heading towards his office.

I smiled at my dad's retreating figure before heading up to my room. I threw myself over my bed and hummed in appreciation at the softness. My phone buzzed in my bag.

Opening it, I read the message and smiled.

_Hey Luce! Just wanted to say good night ... so good night!_

_I'll see you on Saturday :)_

_~Natsu_

I texted back a quick reply and sighed in happiness. I couldn't wait for Saturday.

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><p><strong>Heyyy :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter! <strong>

**Shout-outs to those who favorited, are following, and have reviewed the one-shot.**

**All of you are the best! Thanks so much for this :) You guys really make my day and the reason why I'm continuing this! Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)**


	3. Chapter 3

It Started with a Big Mac

Chapter 3

The Saturday at the Heartfilia penthouse started off with a doorbell. Curious as to whom it may be, Mr. Heartfilia trudged from his office to the door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see a pink-haired young man standing in the hallway. He was dressed in a blue, v-neck tee, khaki shorts, and a white muffler, even though it was still summer.

"Who might you be?" Mr. Heartfilia asked suspiciously.

The pink-haired teen shifted slightly under the man's piercing gaze before answering, "My name's Natsu Dragneel, sir. I'm here to pick up Lucy."  
>Mr. Heartfilia's eyes widened further. "<em>You're<em> the one my daughter is supposed to meet?!"

Natsu raised an eyebrow and stopped shifting around. Raising his head a bit higher, he replied, "Yes, Mr. Heartfilia. Is there a problem?"

The man scoffed a little. "No, no problem. I'm just surprised because after..._ him_, I thought my daughter would choose someone more... refined. Not some pink-haired boy."

Natsu crossed his arms and frowned a bit. "Woah. First of all, my hair is _salmon_, not pink. And second, I would appreciate it if you didn't compare me to Lucy's ex. I'm nothing like the low-lying scum he is. I would _never_ treat Luce that way."

The corners of Mr. Heartfilia's lips lifted ever so slightly. This kid was good. "What exactly _is_ my daughter to you?" he asked, "Is she just some sort of game?"

The salmon-haired teen widened his eyes and shook his head. "No! Never! Lucy isn't some sort of game or object! I think she's a wonderful girl and one of the greatest people I've ever met. I feel happy when I'm around her. Lucy's one of my best friends."

Mr. Heartfilia continued to stare at Natsu for a few more seconds before breaking out into a smile and leading the teen into his home. "I'm glad to hear that! Why don't you come on in and make yourself comfortable? Lucy will be down shortly."

Natsu made his way into the penthouse in a state of confusion. What exactly was going on? In one minute, Mr. Heartfilia was acting all "high-and-mighty" and in the next, he was welcoming Natsu with open arms. And what was up with all those questions and insults? The more Natsu thought about it, the more it looked like it was -

"Was that some sort of test?" Natsu asked. The two sat down on a couch in the family room. The penthouse, in Natsu's opinion, was absolutely enormous. Once you entered from the hallway outside, you were met with the family room. Straight ahead was the terrace, which showed all of Magnolia. To the right was the kitchen and dining room, as well as a small theater. To the left was the office and a staircase, which led to the bedrooms. This was a marvelous flat indeed.

Mr. Heartfilia nodded to Natsu's previous question. "Yes, and you passed, my boy. You know, you can never be too careful. With what happened with Lucy's ex-boyfriend, I want to make sure that she ends up with a nice guy. Not only nice, but he must be able to stand up for himself and for my daughter. You have passed all of these standards. Just by talking to you for the last couple minutes, I could tell that you'll be a close friend to Lucy."

"Oh, well thanks Mr. Heartfilia!" Natsu said with a hint of pink dusting his chinks.

"Please Natsu, call me Jude."

Natsu grinned toothily, "Alright then, Jude!"

"Dad?" a voice called out from the top of the stairs.

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><p><strong>Lucy's POV<strong>  
>I woke with a start. <em>...Something's happening today.<em> Blinking rapidly to get the sleepiness out of my eyes, I went over the list of things I would normally do on a Saturday. _Let's see, clean the house? No, that was yesterday. Finish the summer assignments? ... I'll leave that to tomorrow. Go to the amusement park with Natsu? No, that's for Saturday... Wait. It's Saturday isn't it? _With a yelp, I jumped out of bed and pounced on my alarm clock. 8:17 am. Thank goodness. With a smile, I stretched and got ready for the day.

In the bathroom, I was met with boxes and boxes of different makeup. All of this reminded me of _him_. From the fake eyelashes to the smoky eye shadow, I was reminded of all my mistakes, all the times I applied the cosmetics to make him happy, and all of the times he simply ignored the time and effort I spent into making myself look pretty. I grimaced at all the hundred-dollars worth of useless junk and simply brushed my teeth and applied just a touch of lip-gloss. After all was said and done, I wore a dark green tank top, jean shorts, and a ribbon in my blonde hair. I glanced at the clock. 9:30. Great, I'll just go downstairs, eat breakfast, and wait for Natsu.

After opening my bedroom door, I heard two different voices drifting from the family room to where I was. _Who could Dad have over at this time?_

"Dad?" I called out from the top of the stairs, "Is there someone there with you?"

"Why yes. Natsu is here."

My eyes widened. "What?!" Natsu was _here_?! As in, in this very flat?! But it's still 9:30! And, oh my gosh, I _hope_ that my dad didn't do anything embarrassing. I sprinted down the stairs, tumbling quite a bit to see if Natsu was really here. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I found my dad and Natsu sitting on one of the couches in the family room. The salmon-haired teen gave me a bright grin and a wave.

"Hey Luce!" he said excitedly.

"Hey Natsu! What are you doing here already? You said 10:00 and it's -" I glanced at my wrist-watch, "9:35!"

"Aww," Natsu pouted cutely. _Wait, what? Cutely?_ "I just wanted to see my friend earlier. Is that a problem?" Damn, he even managed to squeeze out a few tears.

I sighed, "No Natsu. I was just surprised you got here so early. I was expecting you to get lost along the way."

He frowned. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"

I laughed loudly, not noticing my dad watching us with an amused look.

By the time I finished making and eating breakfast with Natsu and Dad, it was a little after 10:00.

"Well, it's time to go! I'll be home in a few hours, Dad. Come on Natsu, let's go!" I yelled excitedly while pulling Natsu's arm. I haven't gone to an amusement park since I was little, so don't blame me for wanting to go as soon as possible.

"Alright, alright!" Natsu laughed. He turned to my dad and said, "And don't worry, I'll bring Lucy back safely."

Dad nodded while wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Good. And one more thing you two."

We both looked at him confusedly. "What?"

With a twinkle in his eye, he said, "I approve of your relationship. I give you both my blessing to date each other."

"DAD! / JUDE!" we both shouted, our faces turning a scarlet red.

"Wait, 'Jude'?" I asked Natsu. He shrugged.

"Jude, Lucy and I are just friends." Natsu said shyly.

Dad chuckled, "For now."

I groaned in exasperation. "Come on Natsu, let's go!"

"A-alright. Bye, Jude!"

"Take care of her, my boy!" Dad replied.

On the way to the amusement park, I went deep into thought. It was only the morning and so much had happened already. First, it seemed like Dad liked Natsu. Not only was he actually chatting with him, but he also teased him! With... _him_, the most my dad ever did was grunt a hello or goodbye. With Natsu, it's like my dad finally opened up his shell. It was strange. Dad even told Natsu to call him Jude, his first name, which means that he already trusts him. The second thing is what both Dad and Natsu said. Does Dad really think we're dating? I mean, seriously! We just met like, two days ago. And besides, like Natsu said, we're just friends. Right. Just friends. But why did I feel... disappointed when he said that? That was the truth. Yet I couldn't help but feel differently.

A hand suddenly jerked me back to reality.

"Jeez, Luce! You almost got yourself killed!"

I blinked and saw Natsu staring worriedly at me. "Sorry, what happened?"

"You almost walked a red light and got run over by a car!"

"Eh?! Really?!"

"Yup. I grabbed your hand at the last second though." I looked down and saw that our hands were definitely intertwined. I felt my face flush at the contact and gently pulled my hand back.

"Oh, hehe... thanks" I said nervously.

Natsu raised his eyebrow before ruffling my hair. "Don't think too much about it/"

"Hey!" I yelped while trying to fix my hair. "Idiot, this took me a good 10 minutes!"

The salmon-haired teen merely laughed at me before running ahead. Within a few minutes, we finally arrived at the pearly gates of... the amusement park! I looked left and right, spotting roller-coasters and game-booths galore. This looked like so. much. fun!

I felt Natsu grab my hand once again. "Come on Luce! I wanna ride _that_ one!"

My jaw dropped. "No! Natsu, please not Kingda Ka! Can't we start off with something small, like the Merry-go-round?"

Natsu laughed evilly, "Never! Come on, let's start off with something big!"

I sweat-dropped. "But Natsu-"

"Never!"

"It's _huge_!"

"Exactly!"

"... you suck."

"Yup! Wait, hey!"

After a 30-minute long wait and many unsuccessful arguments later, we found ourselves strapped into the seats of death itself.

"C-come on Natsu! I've never ridden this kind of roller coaster before!"

"Neither have I, and it's gonna be great!"

"Natsu!"

"What?"  
>"... Don't be surprised if I hurl."<p>

"Alright? Here." Natsu stuck out his hand to me.

I eyed it carefully. "And this if for... ?"

Natsu smiled. "Support! It's our first time going through this, so we should support each other."  
>Despite having the feeling of wanting to run away crying in fear, I smiled nervously and gripped the guy's hand like my life depended on it. "Alright. Let's do this."<p>

When the death-trap started to move, I closed my eyes tightly and squeezed Natsu's hand so much, I swore I heard a few bones pop. Despite that, he didn't say anything. Without opening my eyes, I felt the roller-coaster go higher and higher up the tracks. _Dad, I'm sorry I won't be able to make it home alive. Please don't be mad. Mom, I think I'm ready to see you now. Just wait a few more seconds -_

I felt myself falling. I screamed, my scream mixing into the ones of those around me. We kept accelerating towards the ground, faster and faster. And yet, second by second, I felt my screams lessen and my eyes open. This feeling, it felt like I was free. Free to do anything I wanted. I laughed.

"Hey Natsu!" I yelled over the howling of the wind. "This feels amazing, doesn't it?!" I turned my head ever so slightly and nearly screamed again.

Natsu was looking absolutely sick to his stomach. His face was a sickly green color and he looked as though he were about to vomit. He looked like death.

"OMIGAWD Natsu! Are you okay?!" I yelled.

The only reply I received was the slight turning of his head and pancake bits being flown out of his mouth.

After another minute, the ride was finally over.

"Get me *hic* off this *hic, hic* moving death trap!" Natsu managed to get out.

Sighing, I hauled the poor teen over my shoulder and sat down on the nearest bench. I put Natsu's head on my lap carefully and laughed.

"Jeez, and _you_ were the one who wanted to go on that."

"Sh-shut up."

"Hehe... I wonder if you're sick though. You seemed absolutely fine earlier."

"... I -urgh- have motion sickness."

"Seriously?! Then why the heck would you go on a roller coaster if you have motion sickness?!"

Natsu turned his head to look at me and chuckled nervously. "I didn't really think that through..."

"Jeez. Lift your head a bit. I'll go get you some water."

"No! Uh, I mean, can we just stay like this for another couple minutes? I still feel a bit nauseous." Natsu asked shyly.

I turned a bit red and nodded. "Alright. But just for another two minutes." When I settled back down, I looked anywhere but at Natsu. This was getting awkward. I mean, in the beginning, it was okay because I didn't really think much of it and Natsu looked close to death. But now, since he _asked_ me to do it, it feels... well... awkward.

"Hey, your face looks different."

I frowned and looked at him. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Well, you have less make-up on than when I first met you. This look suits you better."

I blushed. "Th-thanks."  
>"Yup! You also look less pissed -"<p>

"Okay!" I interrupted, "I'm gonna go get you that water." I abruptly stood up, causing Natsu to fall out of my lap and land on the ground head-first.

"Ow! What the -"

I sprinted towards the nearest food-stand. Jeez, what was up with that? My heart was still pounding from before. What happened back there? As I neared the food-stand, I saw something, or rather, some_one_ who made my blood run cold.

It was... _him_.

* * *

><p><strong>Woah! Cliffhanger! :P Anyway, so that was the third chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it! I forgot to mention this last chapter, but I will be trying to update once a week. I hope I'll be able to... If not, I'll probably be able to update every other week... We'll see... Well, hope y'all enjoyed this chapter!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

It Started with a Big Mac

Chapter 4

As I neared the food-stand, I saw something, or rather, some_one_ who made my blood run cold.

It was... _him_.

I broke out in a cold sweat. My heart beat increased the longer I watched him flirt around with other girls, the longer I watched him obsess over their beauty and fantasize their weddings. He made me sick. At least, that's what I told myself. My brain screamed at me to run, to get away from that idiot. Yet, my legs would not move.

As I watched him comb back his maroon hair, painful memories of "the good old days" re-surfaced. I remembered all those fun times we had when we first started dating. I remembered how sweet he was to me the first few months we were together. Then I remembered how he began to want to change me. I remembered how he started to openly flirt with other women when I was around. I remembered how he forgot all our dates and how he ignored me more and more. And then I remembered going to his place for our 2nd year anniversary and finding him cheating on me.

I should hate him. I should want to scream at him, slap him across the face and pay back for all the times he hurt me. But I couldn't. I remained rooted in one spot, fear gripping me and tears threatening to come out.

His face suddenly turned in my direction. Our eyes locked. I couldn't breathe. Why couldn't I move?  
>"Lulu-chi?"<p>

I didn't say anything. I just couldn't.

He smirked and turned to the fan-girls around him. "Excuse me, ladies, but I must talk to Lulu-chi for a moment. I'll be right back!" He winked.

The girls giggled, "Okay!" before turning away.

As he made his way towards me, I felt myself shaking uncontrollably (even though it was summer) and felt tears starting to drip down my face. _Stop it Lucy, you have to stand up for yourself,_ I thought.

He soon reached me and raised an arm to hug me. "Hey Lulu-"

"No!" I shouted, finally feeling a small amount of self-control. "G-get the hell away from me _Dan_!"

Dan's eyes widened in surprise. Guess he didn't expect that. A few bystanders noticed my tear-stained face and Dan's upraised arm. They began to whisper amongst themselves, some even pointing to my ex-boyfriend.

Noticing this, Dan's face contorted in anger and he grabbed my arm roughly. "Lucy..." he growled threateningly.

I panicked when I felt him grab me. "NO!" I screamed loudly, "Get off me!" I managed to rip my arm from his grip and turned to run when my hair was painfully pulled back.

"Lucy, we need to talk."  
>"Never!" I yelled at him, tears freely flowing down my cheeks. "I hate you!"<p>

Grabbing my hair, I pulled myself from his grasp and (finally) made a run for it. I was vaguely aware of the bystanders holding him back from getting me.

I ran. I ran and I sobbed. What just happened? For the two years we'd been dating, Dan had never tried to hurt or abuse me physically. This was the first time. And it was in public.

As I neared the park bench, I saw Natsu still rubbing his head in pain. When he heard me running, Natsu turned towards me with a smile. But once he saw me crying, he stood up quickly and asked me worriedly, "Luce, what happened? What's wrong?"  
>I jumped into his warm embrace and cried on his chest. "Natsu! I-I saw <em>h-him<em>!"

"Your ex?"  
>"Y-yeah. Natsu, he hurt me! Dan hurt me! He was flirting with other girls and tried to talk to me like nothing had happened! I can't take it, Natsu!"<p>

Natsu shook in anger and continued to smooth down my hair.

"Lulu-chi." an all-too-familiar voice interrupted.

My breath caught in my throat. Natsu tightened his embrace slightly.

"Are you Dan?" Natsu asked.

"Yes, I am." Dan said.

"You bastard!" Natsu yelled angrily. His eyes burned in anger and he shook violently, trying to control his anger. "You hurt Lucy and made her cry. You don't deserve to be with someone like her. Now go away before **I kill you** for making her cry."

Dan chuckled, "Shouldn't I be saying that to you? Let go of my _girlfriend_, Pinky, and go run along. A peasant like yourself wouldn't understand a thing."

I took my head out of Natsu's warm embrace and turned to face my _ex_-boyfriend. "No Dan, _you_ go "run along"! In the past couple of days, Natsu has been a better friend than you've ever been, and he cares about me, unlike you. I ended this so-called relationship we had three days ago when I found you cheating on me. Get the hell away from here, Dan. I don't _ever_ want to see your stupid face again."

"Since when did we break up?" Dan sneered. "As I recall, when you saw me sticking my tongue down another person's throat, you just ran away like the coward you are. And according to my facebook status, we've never broken up and _you_ are still mine."

"Screw your facebook status!" I yelled frustrated. "We are over, Dan. O-V-E-R, over! Now pick up your fat ass and take a hike, preferably off a cliff. Go away and don't come the hell back!"

The maroon-haired man widened his eyes in surprise at my choice-words before scoffing and turning away. "Whatever, bitch. And just a little heads-up, I'm definitely going to get you back, no matter what it will take."

Once he left, I felt my legs go numb and was about to fall, if it weren't for Natsu catching me.

"Thanks Natsu."

We sat back down on the bench. "Luce," Natsu began, "that was _amazing_! I'm really proud of you for standing up for yourself. That guy was a total jerk! He thought he could just waltz back into your life and steal you away again. What a total jack-ass! Ugh, you are _so_ much better than he is, and you deserve so much more. What part of him made you fall for him anyways?"

I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder. "Well, first off, thank you. It felt good yelling at him -"

"You're welcome."

"-And second, Dan wasn't like this in the beginning. When we first started dating, he was so sweet and was obsessed with us getting married -"

"What?" Natsu interrupted, "Married?! But you guys were only - what - sophomores?"

I laughed a bit, "Hehe, yeah. But don't worry, I don't think he was actually serious."  
>Natsu grumbled under his breath.<p>

"Anyway, I guess he kind of just caught me at my time of weakness. Back in Acalypha, I didn't have many friends because a lot of people were intimidated by my dad's wealth. Dan was one of the first to actually talk to me. At first, I thought I was just one of his targets."

"Targets?" Natsu questioned.

"Yeah. Before dating, Dan often targeted various females around the school and became obsessed with the one girl for a week before moving on to another one. Around the middle of freshman year, Dan became obsessed with me. I was pretty happy at first because someone was actually talking to me like a person. Then I realized that I was probably just another week-long obsession. However, he continued to follow me around and remained obsessed with _me_ after the week was up. I guess we just grew closer to each other and, in the summer before sophomore year, he asked me out. I obviously said yes and we began dating.

The first few months were great: we were like any other couple. We went on dates and stuck together like glue. But then we slowly started to grow apart. He told me to wear makeup, lose weight, and act dumb. Too blinded by love, I agreed. He then started to ignore me bit by bit and forget important dates. I chose to ignore that. And eventually, during the last half of junior year, Dan began flirting with other girls again. I also chose to ignore that because I believed that since we were dating, he wouldn't deceive me. The last straw was when I caught him cheating on me."

I heard Natsu mumble, "That bastard," but I ignored it. Natsu's right, Dan _is_ a bastard.

"And you know what the funny thing is?" I asked Natsu. He shook his head. "I think I'm still in love with that jerk." A few tears slipped out and I quickly wiped them away.

Natsu wrapped an arm around me in a warm one-armed hug and allowed me to cry into his shoulder.

After a few minutes, Natsu spoke, "I don't blame you for still having feelings for him. You've spent so much time together with him and he was even one of the first to become friends with you. But I don't think that feeling is love."

I looked at him confused.

"I think that what you felt for Dan was admiration or appreciation. He was one of your first friends, so you're probably grateful for that. But love, in my opinion, is more like a mutual feeling. Two people can't see anyone else but the other and they can't think of anyone else but the person they love. Two people in love wouldn't see any flaws in the other person and would want to treasure him/her. I don't know, but maybe you confused gratitude with love."

I looked down and wiped away any remaining tears. "Yeah, maybe you're right. He was one of the first to seem like he didn't care about my dad's wealth and one of my first friends. But I just can't help thinking that I love him."

"Don't think too much about it," Natsu said, "Even though he was one of your first friends, he was also a jerk for doing what he did to you. I think you just need some time to get over him. It's only been three days after all."

I sniffed, "Yeah, I need time."

Natsu hugged me a bit tighter. "Don't worry, Luce. I'll help you get over that bastard."

I smiled and nodded slightly. "Thanks Natsu. You've always been there for me and were there for me when I cried. You're the best friend anyone could ever hope for."

* * *

><p>Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter :)<br>Well, it turns out Dan was _him_! Sorry to those of you who thought "_he_" was Sting. I imagine Dan to be more like an obsessive, stalker-type guy :P  
>Thanks to all those who are following, favorite-ed, and reviewed this fanfic!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

It Started with a Big Mac

Chapter 5

"Oh no. According to my _face book status_, _I'm_ still in a relationship." Natsu said in a fake-snobbish voice and overly dramatic hand motions.

I laughed loudly, gaining the attention of many around me. It's been a couple weeks since that incident with Dan, and now it's only a few days before school. I was pretty nervous: will I be able to make more friends? Will I be able to live a normal high school life? Will I do well in this new school? But I'll be going to the same school as Natsu, so I'm sure that everything will be okay.

At the moment, we were back in McDonald's. Natsu was working, or at least pretending to, while I just sat in the seat closest to the register, sipping on a vanilla milkshake. I laughed as the salmon-haired boy did dramatic and nearly-perfect interpretations of my ex. Although it was extremely funny and he did this to help me lose any remaining feelings for Dan, I couldn't help but still feel a small pang in my heart. I know I shouldn't be feeling this way, but I had spent two years of my life being Dan's girlfriend, so breaking up with him was a bit of a shock and there were still just a little bit of feelings left for him.

Natsu jerked his head back violently in an attempt to "flip his hair" like Dan. In a deep and snobby voice, he said, "Peasants like yourself wouldn't understand a thing. I'm super duper smart and such a pain in the ass! Oh everyone must love me, everyone must bow down to me! That's it! BOW DOWN! MWUHAHAHAHAHA-"

"Natsu?" a high-pitched girly voice interrupted. We both turned to see a young girl with long blue hair and large brown eyes. She wore a green, yellow, and white striped summer dress as well as had her hair up in two pigtails. She looked about 12 years old. "What are you doing?"

Natsu stopped his tirade and smiled at the little girl. "Hey Wendy!" _Wendy? Where did I hear that from..._ "Luce, this is my little sister Wendy. Wendy, this is my best friend Luce."

Seemingly forgetting what she asked her brother, Wendy turned to me and smiled brightly. "Hi Luce!"

I giggled at her adorableness and said hi back. "Hi Wendy! My name's Lucy, by the way. That brother of yours wanted to give me a nickname."  
>"Aww! Come on, Luce! You said that you liked the nickname! Why don't you like it now?!" Natsu whined loudly. A few customers in the fast-food place gave us dirty looks.<p>

I chuckled at Natsu's defeated look and smiled back at him. "I didn't say that I didn't like it."

Natsu's demeanor brightened up immediately and he cheered, ignoring the criticizing looks of the patrons. "Yes! She likes the nickname!"

Wendy and I giggled at his behavior before I heard the front door open and close several times.

"Jeez, flame-brain. What's got you all hyped up about?" an unfamiliar voice asked. Natsu immediately stopped bouncing around and turned to glare at whoever was behind us. I shivered. Never had I seen him look so... menacing. I quickly turned around to see who it was.

I was met with a tall-ish guy around my and Natsu's age with spiky raven hair and dark blue eyes. He seemed pretty normal... except for the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt... or pants... or any clothes for that matter.

"AH! My virgin eyes!" I screamed loudly while covering both my and Wendy's eyes. Thank goodness most of the customers had already left when Natsu had started cheering. I heard an "oh crap" come from the stripper before there was a rustling of clothes. I re-opened my eyes and uncovered Wendy's. Seriously though, what was with this dude?

The young girl smiled at the teen, unfazed by the recent events. "Hi Gray!" Oh! So _this_ was one of the friends Natsu was talking about.

"Hey Wendy," Gray said.

"Ice princess..." Natsu muttered darkly, "Stripping in front of my little sister and my friend... You'll pay for this you sick bastard!" Before he could lunge towards him, Wendy quickly sped over to Natsu and pat his head like a dog.

"There there Natsu. It's not like Gray doesn't do that all the time anyways."

"Ugh... He will pay... one day..."

Gray smirked and said, "Well hello to you too squinty eyes." He soon noticed me and smiled genuinely. "Hey there, who're you?"

"I'm Lucy!"

He reached out to shake my hand, and right before our hands met, I heard Natsu growl, "Hands off, stripper!"

This only seemed to encourage the raven-haired teen. Gray gripped my hand tightly with his cold one and smirked at Natsu. "Hello Lucy. I'm Gray Fullbuster. Now tell me what you're doing with this idiot."

Before I could answer, I felt this dangerous and deadly aura emanating around the room. I looked around fearfully. "What's this feeling?" I soon spotted a girl around my age spying on us from around a corner. She had pale skin, blue eyes, and blue, curly hair. She stared, or rather _glared_, at us (or me) and our connected hands, a deadly aura seeping out of her.

"U-um... Natsu?" I stuttered while slipping my hand from Gray's. The aura lessened slightly, but still not enough. "Who's she?"

Natsu looked around before waving off the matter. "Oh, that's just Juvia Lockser, you know, Gray's stalker."

"O-oh." I nodded. Turning to Juvia, I asked, "W-why don't you come on over and join us?" She remained in that spot.

Gray sighed, "Come on over, Juvia. You're scaring Lucy."

The deadly aura suddenly stopped and a blur of blue flashed before my eyes. The next thing I knew, Gray and Juvia were on the ground, the girl hugging (or strangling) the boy close to her.

"Oh Gray-sama!" she cried, "So long has Juvia dreamt of the day when Gray-sama would invite Juvia to sit next with Gray-sama! Perhaps Gray-sama finally accepts Juvia's undying love and wishes to return it!"

Huh... she speaks in third person.

"J-Juvia-" Gray wheezed.

"Yes Juvia's love?"

"I-I can't b-breathe!"

"Ah! Juvia feels the same way as well! Whenever Juvia lays her eyes on Gray-sama, Juvia's breath catches in her throat and it becomes hard for Juvia to breathe! Ah! Gray-sama and Juvia feel the same way about each other!"

I sweat-dropped. Gray was beginning to turn purple. I looked to Natsu and Wendy: one was laughing his butt off while the other was too shy to interfere. Deciding to step in, I tapped on Juvia's shoulder. "Uh, Juvia? I think Gray really can't breathe. You should probably let him go."

Juvia turned her head to glare at me. "Is Love Rival trying to take Gray-sama from Juvia?"

"Wait, "Love Rival"?"

"Never! Juvia and Gray-sama belong together! Love Rival will not interfere!"

Gray was beginning to fade in and out of consciousness.

"Juvia!" an unexpected voice called out, "You're killing Gray!" Wendy thankfully was able to snap the weird girl out of her... whatever that was.

"Ah! Gray-sama!" Juvia quickly released Gray, who gasped loudly and breathed heavily. "Juvia is so sorry for strangling Gray-sama! Juvia was only trying to protect Juvia and Gray-sama's undying love from Love Rival! Please forgive Juvia!"

Once he caught his breath, Gray replied, "Don't worry Juvia. I'm fine (now)."

"Oh, Gray-sama!" Juvia cried happily before hugging Gray again (without strangling him).

Natsu laughed wildly. "Haha! You're too soft, ice princess!"

Gray glared at him. "Wanna say that again, ash-for-brains?"

"You're too soft, snow cone!"

"Oh, you wanna go, squinty eyes?"

"Yeah, I could take you on any day, droopy eyes!"

A new voice interrupted, "Is this a fight I hear?" I turned around to see three new people: one tall (and powerful-looking) woman with long, scarlet hair, another petite girl with light blue hair, and one scary-looking guy with piercings and long jet-black hair.

Natsu and Gray gulped loudly before hugging each other. "Nope! We're the best of friends!" Gray squeaked.

"A-Aye!"

... Wow. What's with this sudden change?

"Good." the scarlet haired woman nodded. She gave off a strong air of authority. The person then looked to me and smiled. "Hello, you must be this new friend Natsu was talking about."

I blushed at the thought of Natsu talking about me before nodding.

"My name is Erza Scarlet. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

The light-blue haired girl spoke, "I'm Levy McGarden! I hope we'll become the best of friends in the future!"

"... I'm Gajeel Redfox." the scary-looking guy said.

I smiled at all my newly-made friends. "I'm Lucy! I look forward to being together with all of you in the future!"

Levy smiled. "What's your last name?"

I laughed nervously. "What are you talking about?"

While cleaning the counter, Natsu answered Levy, "It's Heartfilia." I mentally smacked my head. Why did I ever tell him my last name in the first place?

"HEARTFILIA?!" everyone (except Natsu) yelled.

"What's so special about Luce's last name?" asked Natsu confused. Oh yeah, that's why I told him.

"Her dad is the founder and owner of Heartfilia Corp.! It's the largest company in the whole world! You must be freaking rich!"

I sighed, "Maybe, but please! I don't want you guys treating me any differently than from a normal person. My last name has already brought me enough troubles in the past." I don't want the same thing happening like from my old school.

"Well of course we won't... We'll just make you pay for everything and- ouch!" Gajeel yelped as Levy tugged on his hair roughly.

"What's so wrong about your last name?" Erza questioned.

"Well, back in my old school, when people knew who I was, they pretty much put me on a pedestal and didn't talk to me like an actual person. I didn't have many friends back then. I don't want that anymore. I want to have friends and have fun!"

"Don't worry, Luce! Fairy Tail won't treat you any differently, and I sure as hell won't!" Natsu reassured.

Gray and the rest nodded. "That's right. We all treat each other like family regardless of what background you have. So don't worry about a thing, Luce."

I smiled warmly, "Thanks you guys."

Natsu smiled before frowning a bit. "Wait a minute, "Luce"? Hey! That's _my_ nickname for her!" he shouted at Gray.

The raven-haired teen frowned back. "You can't own a name, stupid!"

"What? Why can't I? Anyway, find your own nickname for her you pervy popsicle!"

"Nah, I don't feel like it."  
>"Why you -!"<p>

And with that, they began to fight. Gajeel then suddenly joined in the brawl "because he felt like it", Juvia cheered for her "Gray-sama's" victory, and Levy and Wendy hid under one of the tables.

I poked Erza. "Uh, shouldn't we stop them?" I looked up at her and found the scarlet-haired woman quivering in anger. "Erza?"

"WOULD YOU MORONS STOP FIGHTING?!" she screamed, a deadly look taking over her features, making her look like... a demon. Erza too joined the fighting, wreaking havoc in all of McDonald's. Just what did I get myself in to?

In the end, the manager kicked all of us out, gave Natsu one last chance to work, and threatened to call the police if they ever fought again. And that was how I met your mothe- I mean my friends.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey everyone! I am so so so so so so so sorry for updating a week later than usual :( I had midterm exams all of last week, so I wasn't able to write or upload any new chapters... But now that exams are over, I should be able to update once a week (maybe). Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm not particularly proud of this chapter... but I liked the Juvia and Gray scene (hehe... Gray-sama...) :)<strong>  
><strong>Well then, thanks to all those who reviewed, favorite, and are following this fanfic! See you all next week :)<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

It Started with a Big Mac

Chapter 6

beep beep beep... Beep Beep Beep... BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP -

I groaned and quickly shut off my alarm clock. Gosh... why is it so early? I turned and stared at the digital numbers. 6:30 am... I blinked. What was happening today again? I glared at the horrid device, trying to remember what special thing was happening today.

"Lucy! Get up! It's your first day of school and you don't want to be late!" my dad yelled.

... School? ... oh yeah. I jumped out of bed, a grin spreading across my face. My first day of school in Fairy Tail High! Feeling pumped up about my first day, I quickly got ready. I threw on the Fairy Tail uniform - a white polo, gray-pleated skirt, gold pull-over, navy blue knee-socks, and a blue/white-striped tie - tied my hair into two low pig-tails, ate breakfast (and thanked my dad for waking me up), grabbed my bag, and sprinted out the building, almost knocking into Natsu.

"Woah! Hey Luce! Ready for school?" Natsu asked brightly. Had he been waiting in front of my building this whole time?

I smiled back. "Yup! I can't wait! Were you here this whole time, Natsu?"

Natsu waved it off and started leading me towards school. "Nah, I just got here. I wanted to make sure you'd get to Fairy Tail okay, so here I am!"

We talked about random things as we walked, and as we got closer to school, I noticed many other students going in the same direction.

"Anyway," Natsu continued, "lucky for us, all the people you met last time are in our grade. Well, except Wendy. She's going to be a freshman."

I smiled. This was going to be a great year indeed. Last weekend, Natsu, Erza, Gray, Juvia, Wendy, Levy, Gajeel and I all had fun together getting to know each other. With them, I knew that my life would change for the better.

"Lucy! Natsu!" someone shouted. We turned to see Levy waving at us with the others, as well as a couple other people I didn't know, near the entrance of the school building. One had wild, orange hair and blue-tinged glasses. The girl had long, brown hair as well as a suspicious-looking bottle-shaped bag.

"Hi guys!" I said happily. They all greeted me back before Natsu started to fight with Gray... again.

Erza glared at the two to stop before introducing me to the two other people. "Lucy, this is Cana Alberona," she gestured to the strangely-happy one, "and Loke Celeste."

"Hi!" I smiled at them, "I hope we'll have a great year together."

Cana grinned, a light blush dusting her cheeks, and shouted, "Hell yeah!" before taking a swig out of her bag/bottle.

"Uh, is that alcoho-" I was interrupted by a sudden burst of sparkles entering my vision. The next thing I knew, Loke was on one knee with one of my hands in his.

"My, my," Loke said smoothly, "Did it hurt when you feel from heaven? 'Cause you're an angel." He winked.

Great. A playboy. I heard Natsu mumbling angrily behind me before I leaned down to face Loke up close. I gave him an overly-sweet smile that made everyone gulp and slid my hand out of his.

"No, " I replied in a sickenly-sweet voice, "but I did scrape my knee crawling out of hell." I stepped away from Loke's pale yet intrigued face and found my new friends laughing and/or patting me on the back. I smiled. This is fun.

A sudden weight appeared on my shoulder and I looked up to see Natsu's arm around me. "Nice one, Luce! You'll do great in this school!"

I smiled and reddened slightly. "Thanks!" We all continued to chat a bit more and I learned more about Loke and Cana. Before we knew it, the bell rang, signaling us to get to the auditorium for the principal's opening speech.

After we all settled down, a really short, old man climbed atop the podium and cleared his throat. This must be the principal.

"Good morning, students" he started in a surprisingly loud voice.

"Good morning Principal Makarov/ Master Makarov / Gramps"

... "Gramps"?

"It is a true pleasure to be with all of you for another year. Most of you, I already know. However, many faces are still unfamiliar. Welcome! Now, I hope this year will be a great one. Hopefully," he looked around the room. His eyes eventually paused on Natsu next to me, who grinned and gave a thumbs up, before they hardened. "Hopefully there will be less brawls and less damage to the school. *cough, cough, Natsu, cough*

"Besides that, I hope that this year will be an adventure to all of you. Many of you already know this, but to you new ones out there, our name, Fairy Tail, is a mystery. Whether fairies have tails or not, or whether they exist, nobody knows for sure. So it's like an eternal mystery, an eternal adventure. Let us take this eternal adventure together and survive for another school year!"

The whole room shouted in agreement. This principal is really inspiring. The students kept getting louder and louder, the cheering soon became deafening. Master's happy smile soon started to twitch, and a tick mark appeared on his forehead.

"Alright, alright!" he yelled, "Get back to class ya damn brats!"

The cheering/screaming turned to laughter as we went to homeroom.

"Luce! Luce! What's your schedule like?"

"Uh, wait, hold on." I pulled out my schedule from my bag and looked it over again.

_Homeroom Mr. Conbolt_

_**A Day**_

_Period 1 English (Justine)_

_Period 2 Math (Dreyar)_

_LUNCH_

_Period 3 PE (Strauss)_

_Period 4 Chemistry (Mine)_

_**B Day**_

_Period 1 Biology (Bixlow)_

_Period 2 History (Conbolt)_

_LUNCH_

_Period 3 Spanish (Connel)_

_Period 4 study period (Evergreen)_

"Yes! We have homeroom together!"

"That's great! Now... show me where everything is..."

As it turned out, everyone was in the same homeroom. Something about the seniors being able to choose which homeroom to be in? I dunno. Anyway, I sat at a table between Levy and Natsu and we all compared schedules. Luckily, I had at least one person in the same class as me for each of my periods.

"Oh, Gray-sama!" Juvia cried, "oh what a horrid thing that Gray-sama and Juvia are not in Biology, History, or Chemistry together! Juvia is so miserable that Juvia and Gray-sama are not in those classes!"

Gray rolled his eyes. "Juvia... they're only three classes. We already have 5/8 classes together."

Juvia wailed again, "But Juvia and Gray-sama do not share 3/8 classes! That is over three hours where Juvia and Gray-sama are separated! Over three hours where Love Rivals could steal Gray-sama away from Juvia! Oh, what a horrible turn-out! Gray-sama! Accept Juvia's love before a Love Rival takes Gray-sama away!"

With that, Juvia pounced on her beloved, nearly strangling him to death again.

"Alright class, settle down," a voice said. In walked who I assumed to be Mr. Conbolt. He had purple-ish hair with graying sides as well as a funny-looking mustache. "Let's have a good year together. My name is Mr. Conbolt, but you can call me Macao."

Natsu snickered loudly. "Moooooooo! All right, my cow!"

The class burst into little snickers. Even I had to snort back a laugh.

Macao shook his head tiredly and sighed. "Natsu, you tell that joke every year you're in my class. It's getting old."

We laughed again.

So first period was English with Mr. Justine. Luckily, Cana and Levy were in my class... as well as Loke. But he was off flirting with a group of girls. Class was pretty cool... although Mr. Justine did digress a lot. Levy and I both share a love for books and writing, and Cana's just really interesting to be around. I knew I'd enjoy this class.

After English, as Cana and I walked towards our next class, I noticed a flash of maroon across the hallway. I quickly turned around to see who or what it was, my heart thumping hard against my chest. But I saw nobody. I ignored the sense of upcoming trouble and hurried to the next class.

Next period was Math with Mr. Dreyar, the principal's grandson. Cana, Natsu, Gray, and Juvia were all in my class. It was really fun watching Cana ogle over Laxus-sama's (as he told us to call him) muscles, Gray and Natsu fight and get beaten up by Laxus-sama, and Juvia cheering her beloved Gray-sama on... all the while staring/glaring at me.

Soon after, the bell signaling lunch arrived. Natsu sighed happily. "Man am I glad that's over! I couldn't stand being with Gray for another second."

"What was that, Squinty Eyes?"

"You heard me, Ice Princess! Or is your hearing finally going bad?"

"My hearing's not going bad! You just mumble a lot of bullshi-"

"MY VOICE IS PERFECTLY FINE!"

"OW! Stop screaming, you idiot!"

"Make me, stripper!"

"Gah! When did that happen?!"

"Uh, guys?" I interrupted. People were starting to gather around us, cheering for a fight. I sweat-dropped. "Come on, let's just get to lunch!" I pleaded while attempting (key word: _attempting_) to pull the two apart.

"No Love Rival!"

"Again with the "Love Rival"?"

"Love Rival shall not touch Gray-sama! Only Juvia gets to touch her beloved Gray-sama! Gray-sama Gray-sama Gray-sama Gray-sama Gray-sama Gray-sama Gray-sama Gray-sama Gray-sama Gray-sama (etc.)"

"AHAHAHA!" Cana cheered, her bottle/bag still in her hand, "that's what I'm talking about! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! (etc.)"

... she was _so_ not helping. Soon enough, all the noise that filled these halls were the sounds of fighting, the cheering of the students, Cana's "fight" incantations, and Juvia's "Gray-sama" chants. Not wanting to get in trouble with the teacher nor listen to this cacophony of screaming, I let out the darkest aura I could muster and glared at the two boys with all my might.

"Natsu... Gray..." I seethed. The chatter around us stopped and Natsu and Gray eventually turned to look at me. When they did, they visibly shivered.

"Aw crap," Natsu whispered to Gray, "It's _Devil_ Lucy!"

"W-what do you mean?" he whispered back.

"Let's just say she's scarier than two Erza's."

"N-no w-way. How w-would you kn-know?"

"... I knocked over her smoothie back in McDonald's one day. It was an accident though!"

"I don't care if it was an accident!" I burst, "It was such a perfectly good smoothie!"

"I said I was sorr-"

"Yeah, yeah. Alright. But the two of you, STOP FIGHTING! I don't care if you do it anywhere else, but what would happen if the teachers caught you? What would you do? Or if someone other than the two of you knuckleheads got seriously hurt? Gosh... you two..." I sighed and stayed quiet for a few minutes. By then, the mob of students had already left (out of boredom or fear, I will never know) and my annoyance had subsided. "Come on, let's get to lunch with everyone else."

Gray, Natsu, Juvia, and Cana all sighed in relief and started to head to the cafeteria. As we were walking over, Natsu wrapped his arm around my shoulder and grinned at me, seemingly forgetting what had happened not two minutes before.

"So Luce! How do you like Fairy Tail so far?"

I smiled back. His happiness was contagious. "It's really great! All the students here are amazing and the teachers are fun! It's just that one thing I saw earlier..." I trailed off, remembering the flash of maroon I had seen on the way to math class. Feeling Natsu lightly squeeze my shoulders, I looked at him and saw his confused face. I waved it off, preferring not to remember that familiar color.

"It's nothing, I just-" my stomach growled loudly and I suddenly remembered an important detail. "... forgot my lunch box! Go on ahead, guys! I'm going to get my lunch from my locker and meet up with you in the cafeteria!" I slipped out from Natsu's warm arms and began to jog towards the lockers, vaguely hearing them tell me to hurry and get back.

As I walked through the empty halls, I couldn't help but feel a sudden sense of unease. I walked faster towards the lockers, in a hurry to get my lunch bag and return to my friends as quickly as possible. I felt a cold sweat coming on and felt my breath getting shorter and quicker. My chest strangely felt heavier and my hands began to feel clammy. _Locker, locker, locker, locker, locker, aha!_ I mentally cheered to myself when I found my locker.

I quickly opened it and grabbed my lunch. I sighed, thankful that 1/2 my journey was already over. As I was closing my locker, a hand suddenly slammed into the adjacent locker, near my head. I jumped in surprise and turned around, ready to shout profanities at the careless person.

I gasped. Unwanted tears pricked at my eyes and my heart thumped loudly against my chest. Why? Of all the things that could have happened to me today, why?

"Hehe, hello _Lulu-chi_."

* * *

><p><strong>Hey everyone! So... wow... two weeks again... I'm sorry! But then again, sorry in advance because there definitely will be more times where I'll update maybe once every two weeks... :( I hate school.<br>Anyway, this was the next chapter! I wonder who that person at the end is... hm? hm? hm? Teehee. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!****Thanks again to all those who are following, have favorited, and have reviewed this fanfic! LOVE YA! :D**


	7. Chapter 7

It Started with a Big Mac

Chapter 7

"Hehe, hello _Lulu-chi_."

I whimpered and lifted my tear-filled eyes fearfully to his smirking face. "D-Dan?"

He chuckled and leaned in closer, grabbing a stray strand of my hair. "It's been a while, hasn't it? How long has it been," he leaned in closer to the point where I could feel his breath fanning over my face. He looked up into my eyes and smirked, "two weeks? It was _such_ a surprise seeing you in that amusement park. And with a peasant, no-less! I just can't understand how someone as refined, as beautiful, and as _wealthy_, as you would want to spend time with that pink-haired ruffian!"

As he continued to taunt about my friendship with Natsu, hot, angry tears began to stream down my face, no matter how much I tried to stop it. Why? No, _how_ could Dan be here? _How _did he find me? And what was his purpose for being here? Dan continued to pester me and taunt me, all-the-while moving closer and closer until our faces were just a hairsbreadth away.

Why can't I move? This is the exact same problem I had back in the amusement park! Come on Lucy, this jerk in front of you is a nobody. Fight back! I should be mad at him, pissed at him even, for cheating on me, using me, and taking me for granted. I can't let him talk to me and Natsu that way! I _have_ to stand up for myself and tell him to leave me alone. Yet with all these thoughts, I still couldn't move.

"- And then you had the _audacity_ to _cheat on me_ with that low-lying scum. That poor, dirty, disgusting, pig-headed, violent, and _pink_-haired -"

I snapped. Finding the will to move (even just a little) again, I slapped his hand away from my hair and pushed Dan hard on the chest. With a surprised yelp, he stumbled backwards a few feet.

"For _your_ information," I started, "Natsu's hair isn't pink, It's salmon. I also wasn't cheating on _you_, _you_ were the one who cheated on _me_ and ended this "relationship". And what the _hell_ are you even doing here, Dan?"

The maroon-haired man frowned angrily. "You _dare _to talk back to me?!" He huffed and rubbed his eyes, "Well, I should have known. Of course there would be consequences for letting you go to this uncivilized and barbaric shack-for-a-school."

"Don't insult Fairy Tail!" I yelled, angry tears starting to slow to a halt, "Fairy Tail, and especially Natsu, is more of a family to me than you or any of the others had _ever_ been. Now I'll ask you again. Why. Are. You. Here?!"

Dan tsked. "Are you really that slow? I'm here to get you back."

"Well you just wasted your time! We're never getting back together, like ever! Not after what you've done. Sure, you were the only person who talked to me for the past couple years in school, but that doesn't give you an excuse to tell me what to do, tell me what I should wear, ignore me, insult me, flirt with other girls, and especially cheat on me!

I didn't realize it until now, but what we had definitely was not love. I was blindly following you because you were one of the few friends I had, and you took advantage of that. Dan, I said it before and I'll say it again: leave me the hell alone. We are done."

I turned to walk away, feeling pretty proud for standing up for myself but also a little heartbroken for completely shutting off my first (ex)boyfriend. I wiped ferociously at any remaining tears and began to make my way to the cafeteria. Well, until I felt a strong hand grip my shoulder and slam me into another locker.

"Ow!" I yelped," What in the-"

Dan's face appeared before mine again as he pinned both my arms above my head and smirked evilly at me again. "Oh Lucy, Lucy..." I thrashed against his grip, trying to escape the hold he had on me. "You _know_ that I'm going to take you back. And when it comes to it, I'll do it with force."

"Get off m-mmf!" I froze as his lips slammed into mine. What used to feel right now felt... wrong. I remained unmoving and un-breathing as fresh, silent tears streamed down my already-wet face. I felt his lips move against mine. I couldn't move. I squeezed my eyes shut. _Someone_, I prayed, _someone, please... help._

"LUCY!" a familiar voice called out. My heart thumped happily. Not a second later, I felt Dan get ripped off me and someone catch me from falling on the ground. Opening my eyes cautiously, I smiled in relief when I saw Natsu.

"Natsu..."

The salmon-haired teen hugged me tightly before setting me down. Natsu turned to where he threw Dan and snarled.

"Dan!" Natsu growled furiously, "I'm going to fucking kill you for hurting Lucy and making her cry!" Before he managed to reach the guy, a few more people interrupted them.

"Natsu! Why the hell did you run off like that? ... And who is that? Don't just attack random students!" Erza reprimanded. She, as well as Gray and the others, came from around the corner and found Natsu about to pulverize the living daylights out of the "random student".

"This is the bastard who hurt Lucy" Natsu growled again. As if by magic, the group suddenly noticed me on the ground with a tear stained face. The aura in the room also changed into a deadly one, deadlier than the one I felt from Juvia back in McDonald's.

"So," Erza began. She, Gray, Loke, Cana, and Gajeel all lined up behind Natsu, giving Dan one hell of a dirty look. "You're the one who cheated on Lucy."

Dan scoffed haughtily. "What of it? This has nothing to do with you."

"'One member's tears is every member's tears' as Gramps would say. We'll get you back for making a member of our family cry." Gray said.

"You'll pay for hurting the Princess."

"Haha! Hell yeah! Let's kick some ass!"

"... I could fight. And besides, Shrimp (aka Levy) is fond of Bunny Girl (aka Lucy/me)."

... Bunny... Girl?

Dan paled under everyone's glares and auras. But then an idea seemed to strike him. "A member of your family, huh? So you mean a member of Fairy Tail! Ha! You seem to forget that I'm also a member of your "beloved family". So you can't harm me, now can you? This would go against what you said!"

He smiled to himself as my friends looked to each other confused. Coming up with the same solution, they looked back at Dan and said at the same time, "We'll make an exception."

A flurry of punches and kicks ensued as well as the pained yelps and groans coming from Dan. Before I could stop the others from hurting him too much, Levy and Juvia grabbed me gently by the forearms and began to lead me somewhere.

"Come on, Lu-chan. Let's go get some ice on that." Levy said.

"Huh? Ice on what?"

She pointed to my bruising and swelling wrists. Oh yeah. That. But what about Dan? I didn't want him to get _too_ hurt, despite the things he did to me.

"Love Rival must not think about that trash. He does not deserve Love Rival's attention. And Juvia is sure that Gray-sama (and the others) will take care of the situation."

"... Alright. Thanks guys, really."

We soon reached the empty infirmary, where the two set me down and placed icepacks on my wrists. The three of us ended up talking about books, Juvia's obsession with her beloved Gray-sama, and Levy and Gajeel's relationship. They thankfully avoided talking about what had happened with Dan. At the moment, I wasn't quite comfortable with talking about it with them.

A knock on the door interrupted our "girl talk". Levy went to open the door.

"Oh! Natsu! Come on in, come on in! Juvia-chan, let's give these two some _alone time_." she giggled. Levy dragged Juvia out of the room, despite the girl's protests to keeping an eye out on me. What was up with them?

Eventually, it was just me and Natsu left. I looked at him. Other than his uniform being a little messy and some sweat, he looked absolutely fine. I breathed out a sigh of relief I didn't know I was holding. Natsu's alright.

"Natsu," I began.

Said person walked over to me wordlessly and wrapped me in a hug. As I sat there in his embrace, I realized that I felt safe, calm, and warm, things I never felt with Dan. My heart thumped.

"Lucy," Natsu whispered into my shoulder, "I'm so... _so_ glad that you're alright."

"Geez Natsu. It sounds like I was dying."

"... I was so worried when you didn't meet us in the cafeteria, so I went out looking for you. Worst case scenario was that you tripped down a flight of stairs and _had_ died, but thankfully you didn't. And then Dan... god. That guy is such a... a..."

"An asshole." I completed.

"Yes!" Natsu released the hug and kneeled in front of me, putting his head on my lap. He looked up and asked, "Do you want to talk about what happened?"

After a moment, I nodded. Only with him. "Dan basically transferred to Fairy Tail to "get me back". I told him to back off and leave me alone. He said he'd use force if he has to get me. And then he forcefully kissed me."

I felt a pair of warm fingers brush against my lips and looked down to see Natsu's hand reaching up to my face. His face, as well as mine, turned bright red.

"S-sorry." he mumbled.

"I-it's alright."

After a moment, Natsu groaned angrily, "Dammit, Luce! I should have gone with you! I should have made sure that you were safe!"

"Natsu, it's not your fault. I should have pushed him away. I should have kicked him in the balls and get back quickly! But I was scared. I couldn't move. All I could do was say a few measly words to him before freezing up and crying like I did in the amusement park."

"Lucy. What you did was amazing. I'm proud of you. You stood up for yourself and expressed your feelings to Dan. That was a huge step! And besides, if only I had gotten to you earlier..."

"No Natsu. I'm glad you came when you did."

"What? Why? He was freaking kissing you!"

"Well Dan kissing me made me realize that I'm not in love with him anymore. Yeah, there are still some residual feelings left, but I think that over time, I'll eventually forget about him."

Natsu smiled, "That's great Luce!" He hugged me around the waist. "I'll help you forget about him."

* * *

><p><strong>Hey everyone! So that was chapter 7! Whoot whoot :P Anyway, I'm not particularly proud of the ending... or the fact that this chapter was pretty short, but meh. And OMG Dan stalked Lucy to Fairy Tail! Whaaaaattttt? Thanks to ciaoallo for giving me the idea to make <em>Him<em> stalk her :)**

**And last but definitely not least, THANK YOU to those of you who favorited, are following, and have reviewed this fanfiction! You guys are the best :)**


	8. Chapter 8

It Started with a Big Mac

Chapter 8

"I'll help you forget about him." Natsu's eyes widened in realization. "U-Uh, you know, not in t-that kind of w-way. L-like I'll h-help you have fun and forget him... crap I'm bad at this-"

I laughed and smiled. "Thanks, Natsu." He grinned back and resumed to rest his head on my lap.

We sat there in silence, just enjoying each other's company. I don't really know how much time had passed, but the next thing I knew, a gorgeous, white-haired woman wearing a nurse's uniform walked through the door.

"Oh my," she gasped. "What are you two doing here?"

Natsu sat up and smiled at the woman. "Oh, hey Mira! We just needed some icepacks. Mira, this is Lucy. Luce, that's Mirajane Strauss, our school nurse."

"Why hello Lucy! Welcome to Fairy Tail!" she smiled.

"Thank you! It's great to be here."

"I'm glad." she paused and smiled weirdly at us. "So what _were_ you two lovebirds doing?"

"We're not lovebirds!" Natsu and I shouted, both our faces turning red.

"Aw come on! You _totally_ like each other!"

"That's not true!" Natsu shouted, his face matching his hair.

"Yeah, Natsu's my friend." I agreed.

Nurse Strauss pouted. "Are you _sure~_?"

I sweat-dropped. "Y-yeah. Pretty sure." I mean, come on. Natsu's my best friend! Even though we haven't known each other for that long, Natsu's helped me through everything. But there's no way I could like him in that way, is there?

My thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of a bell.

"Oh! First half of lunch just ended! You two run along now. You still have the second half to eat. And Lucy, you can just return those ice packs whenever you want to."

"Alright, thank you Nurse Strauss!"

"Please, just call me Mira! We're all family here."

I smiled, "Okay!"

Mira gave us a kind look before pushing me and Natsu out of the door. "Now go! You need plenty of nourishment for the day! Go eat those fats and carbs!"

"... Alright!" we shouted.

"And always use protection!" she giggled before slamming the door in our faces.

"... WHAT?!"

I could vaguely hear her talking to herself about pink-haired, brown-eyed babies and blonde-haired, black-eyed babies... What a weird woman.

Natsu and I continued to make our way towards the cafeteria, ignoring the last comment the nurse made and talking about random stuff. Did you know that Natsu's a cat-guy? Yeah, me neither. It turns out he actually has a cat named Happy. I learned that he was a strange, blue cat who's meows sound like "Aye's". Anyway, we soon reached the cafeteria.

It was a pretty interesting place. It was full of students doing different hobbies and others in an all-out brawl... Strange indeed.

"There you are, Flame Brain! What took you guys so long!" shouted Gray.

I looked around and found him, Erza, Loke, Gajeel, Juvia, Levy, Cana, Wendy, a purple-haired boy around Wendy's age, and a blue-haired man with a red tattoo on his face sitting at a table. They greeted us as I sat down next to Levy.

Erza introduced me to the two new faces. "Lucy, this is J-Jellal, my b-b-b-b-b-b-b-boyfriend, and this is Romeo. Romeo's in Wendy's class and Jellal is in our grade. They came in late to school today."

I smiled at them. "Pleased to meet you!"

Jellal smiled and said, "You too."

Romeo smiled as well and said hi.

"What was that, Ice Breath?" Natsu yelled back at Gray. Great. They're arguing again. I just hope they don't start fighti-

"You heard me, Ash-for-brains!"

"Oh, trying to pick a fight, eh?"

"You want a piece of this?"

"Bring it on!"

... The two then, for the umpteenth time today, engaged in battle. _God, I knew this would happen._ Gajeel and the other kid were pulled into the fight not too long after, one completely willing and the other completely unwilling. Soon enough, their brawl merged with the one that had been happening in the cafeteria before. Tables were flying here and there, food was being thrown left and right, and eventually, even bodies were tossed around.

I ducked some incoming food. "Uh, Erza? Aren't you going to go stop them?" I asked. When I didn't get an answer, I looked at the woman to see her engrossed in... a strawberry shortcake.

I reached over to tap her shoulder. "Erza-"

"No Lu-chan!" Levy interrupted, her eyes wide with fear. _What?_ "Don't bother Erza and her cake. _No one_ lives to see another day when they do. Not even Jellal."

I looked at the man to see him nod. "That's true. I still get nightmares sometimes."

"... Okay. Thanks for the warning." I turned to Wendy. "~Soooooo, Wendy. Romeo, huh?"

Levy and Juvia giggled as Wendy blushed furiously. "R-Romeo? H-h-he's j-j-j-j-just a f-friend!"

I smiled. "_Sure_. You ~_liiiiike _him, don't you?"

Wendy "eep-ed" and hid her face in her hands.

"Speaking of liking people," Levy smirked and looked at me. "how are you and _Natsu_ doing, Lu-chan?"

"... What do you mean?"

Juvia groaned in exasperation, "Love Rival likes Natsu-san, right?"

"Well, of course I do!" The girls smiled brightly, unaware of my next comment. "Natsu's my best friend!" I laughed a bit when I saw their smiles turned to frowns. _Hehe, not what they were expecting, huh?_

"Oh, come on, Lu-chan! You must like Natsu after everything he's done for you!"

"... I don't know. Natsu's my best friend and he _has_ been there for me, despite knowing me for a short while. He listened to all my complaints, took me out to help me forget about my ex, defended me, and even beat up Dan. But I think it's still too early to tell. I just finally cut Dan off, so I don't want to immediately jump into a new relationship. And besides, I'm sure Natsu likes me as a friend too."

"That's not true!" Juvia said, "Juvia has seen the way Natsu-san looks at Love Rival. Natsu-san looks very interested in Love Rival and seems to care about Love Rival a lot, more than others. And this is the first time Juvia has seen Natsu-san interested in another girl since Li- ow!" She stopped when Levy kicked her. I watched the two exchange brief glances before Juvia nodded a bit. _What's up with that? _

"Lu-chan, what we're trying to say is that we've known Natsu for a long time. We're _sure_ that Natsu likes you."

I considered this for a minute. It's true that Natsu's really nice to me and cares about me. He's done everything to help me and has always been there for me. But I seriously doubt that he likes me more than a friend. I feel like he's the type of person who would help anyone in need. And besides, I don't want to hopelessly fall in love again.

"I'm sorry," I replied, "but I don't want to believe it. I just got over a bad relationship, and I don't want to get any false hopes up. Thanks for trying though."

Juvia and Levy smiled sadly before nodding. We continued to talk (with Jellal) about other things, mostly about our schedules. Unlike my old school, this one has block scheduling. The eight total subjects that we have are split into four a day: so we'd have A and B days. A days would have four subjects (like English, Math, PE, and Chem) while B days would have four other subjects (like Bio, History, Spanish, and a study period). Anyway, after a while, an event occurred that caused me to have nightmares to this day.

Someone crushed Erza's cake.

Even though it was an accident, Erza showed no mercy. A suffocating aura was emitted out of her, causing many of us to choke for air.

"You," Erza hissed, "You IDIOTS! How DARE you crush the one thing I love most?!" I heard Jellal cough awkwardly. "You all shall PAY for your sins! PREPARE TO DIE!"

And then Erza joined the brawl, successfully stopping all the idiots from fighting. Unfortunately, this just left the cafeteria in a worse and irreparable mess. More than 75% of all the tables in the cafeteria were broken as well as 80% of all the chairs. The walls were covered in food stains and other stuff I'd rather not talk about. And the floor... my god, the floor... the floor was littered with bodies upon bodies of fallen students. I shuddered. Erza was... is a beast.

"WHAT HAPPENED HERE?!" a commanding voice shouted. We all looked to the entrance of the cafeteria and found Principle Makarov standing there, red and shaking.

"Principal Makarov, I can explain-" Erza started.

"Someone touched your cake again, didn't they?"

"... Yes..."

He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Seriously... you brats are so... IMPOSSIBLE! Even after that _amazing_ speech I gave a couple hours ago, you go and brawl anyway!" Principal Makarov looked around the room once more, seemingly noticing it's condition more and more. "Mavis, look at this mess! All the money going to be used to fix this... YOU BRATS ARE GOING TO PAY FOR MAKING ME SPEND MORE MONEY! I'm going to be, ehem, _we're_ going to be broke by the end of the school year at this rate!" He glared at the students around him. "I want you to clean this mess this instant and attempt to fix what you all broke."

The bell signaling the end of lunch rang. The students snapped out of their daze and ignored the principal, packing up their stuff instead.

When the students began to move to get to class, Principal Makarov frowned and jumped up and down, re-gaining everyone's attention. "NO! Don't go to class now! CLEAN. UP. THIS. MESS!"

"Aw, come on, Gramps!" Natsu shouted. I twitched. "You can't expect us to clean all this up! It's impossible!"

"Yeah, I actually agree with Flame-Brain." Gray said, "This will take us forever to clean up. And isn't our _education_ more important?"

Principal Makarov shook with anger. "... You two... always causing the most trouble... ALL OF YOU WILL CLEAN UP THIS MESS AND YOU WILL _LIKE_ CLEANING UP! Now, _if_ you all manage to fix this mess within 10 minutes, I will overlook this incident and you won't have to face the _punishment_."

Punishment? I looked around and saw many of the students, mainly the ones who were in the brawl, shudder in fear and start cleaning up.

"Y-you know what? I suddenly feel like cleaning up." Natsu stuttered.

"S-same here." Gray said.

I chuckled at the two before joining in with the rest of the school to clean/fix the mess. Although I and a few others weren't involved in the brawl, we had to help the others to finish cleaning. And besides, I for one did _not_ want to figure out what this "punishment" was.

After nine minutes and 59 seconds, we finished cleaning the cafeteria. It nearly looked as clean as it did before, the only differences being a few missing tables and chairs as well as duct tape on almost all the tables to keep them the pieces together. I sighed. At least we wouldn't have to face whatever the punishment was.

Principal Makarov looked over the room and nodded to himself. "Alright. This will do. Now you brats can go."

The room cheered in happiness and raced out of the cafeteria.

"BUT NO RUNNING, YOU BRATS!"

I met up with Natsu and Erza, who were both going to the same class as I. "So, ready for PE?"

Natsu smiled and pumped his fist. "Yeah! I'm all fired up!"

Erza also smiled as a sparkle appeared in her eye. "I'm very prepared to beat everyone in dodge-ball this year."

"You won't be able to beat me this year though, Erza! I practiced!"

"We'll see about that."

I sweat-dropped. "R-right."

We eventually reached the gym, where PE was going to be held. As Natsu opened the door, I saw his eyes widen as he cursed under his breath. I looked around his back and saw the all-too familiar maroon hair.

"You've gotta be shitting me."

* * *

><p><strong>Woooaahhhhh, who's maroon hair could that belong to? :P Also, that last line is from Natsu, not Lucy. Hehe... Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed that last chapter. I kind of just wrote a bunch of random stuff, but oh well. <strong>**  
>Like always, THANK YOU to all those who favorite-ed, have reviewed, and are following this fanfic! Love ya :)<strong>

**Here's a bunny:**

**(\ _ /)  
><strong>**(='.'=) Hi.  
>(") (")<strong>


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